A deep dive into a modern conspiracy theory
On February 2nd, a movie called Argylle is hitting theaters in the US. This movie stars big names such as Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa, Bryce Dallas Howard, Catherine O’Hara, and John Cena. On the outside, this looks like a regular spy movie, albeit with a lot of big names. But, there was some evidence that made people look a little deeper.
There are some similarities to a certain pop star that some just couldn’t look past, including me. In an interview with director Martin McConagh, Taylor Swift expressed that she wanted to direct a movie. She has already directed many of her music videos, including All Too Well: The Short Film, and I’ll talk about all of the similarities between this short film and the movie. She also was rumored to have been writing a book.
One huge thing that made people suspicious was the author. The Argylle movie was supposedly based off of the real book of the same name, which had gotten a movie deal before it was even released. Fishy, right? Elly Conway, the main character in the movie, and the supposed real author of the book, created a very vague profile on her social media. She called herself an introvert and said that her manager made her be more active online. She also never showed her face and there was no trace of her anywhere when looked up.
One picture that she did post was of a coffee cup that looked very much like the one in Taylor Swift’s “Karma” Remix video. Also, Elly’s hair in the movie looks very similar to Taylor’s hair in All Too Well: Short Film. And what is she doing in the short film? Reading from the BOOK SHE WROTE!
But, I digress. It got to the point that, even if Taylor wasn’t Elly Conway, I thought that she was at least involved somehow with the movie. There is a part in the trailer that introduces “the real Agent Argylle” and I thought that it could be her. As I said before, she has been wanting to direct a movie, so I thought that she could have something to do with the directing aspect of it.
But it has now come out that she has nothing to do with the film other than the director being inspired by a picture of her on a plane wearing the cat backpack. He also said that there’s a real Elly Conway that he wishes would “come out of the shadows.”
Anyway, here’s more “evidence” that means nothing now:
- Taylor Swift wears a lot of argyle sweaters, including in a photo shoot in People that came out in December last year. She also sold one in her merch store.
- Sadie Sink wears an argyle sweater in All Too Well: The Short Film. So many All Too Well references.
- Taylor has the same type of cat that’s in the movie and has been seen with a similar cat backpack.
- The director, Matthew Vaughn, also directed a movie called Kingsman: The Secret Service where they used a Conway Stewart pen. This pen is also on the Argylle movie poster. Elly Conway, anyone?
- While rehearsing for the Eras tour, Taylor wore a sweatshirt that had Conway Studios written on it. ELLY CONWAY, ANYONE??
- John Cena posted a picture of Taylor Swift on his Instagram.
I was fully bamboozled, as were many Taylor Swift fans, and some of them are getting mad. They’re saying that they used the Taylor Swift fanbase to market the book. And I don’t think they’re wrong. I’m personally not mad, I’m just disappointed it’s not true. I just fell right into their trap. Sad day.
So, did I full-blown fall into a crazy Swiftie conspiracy, or do you think that it was kind of understandable to believe? Let me know! (Please be gentle, I’ll cry)
And if you want more information about this whole thing, watch JessiSwiftTok’s Argylle playlist on TikTok. This is where I got most of my information.
